1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to cotton harvesters, and more specifically to cotton pickers which can pick up to six consecutive rows of cotton plants in one pass.
2. Related Art
Spindle types of cotton harvesters, such as the John Deere Model 9940 Cotton Picker, have been available for picking four rows of cotton at a time. More recently, harvesters such as the John Deere Model 9960 Cotton Picker have been introduced for picking up to five consecutive rows of narrowly spaced cotton. Such a harvester and the row unit support structure for the harvester are described generally in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,821,497 and 4,803,830. The increasing popularity of narrow row cotton and the continuing desire on the part of farmers to increase the productivity of their machines have been factors which have highlighted the need for a cotton picker having more than four or five row capacity. However, certain characteristics of the spindle type harvester have hindered such a development. Each of the row units on a picker is relatively heavy and includes a large number of moving components which put a substantial mass in motion, and supporting more than four units at the front of the harvester frame is difficult. The widened harvesting area hinders close positioning of the basket to the module builder or other cotton-receiving container during dumping. In addition, each row unit requires one or more cotton conveying ducts which extend upwardly and rearwardly to the cotton basket, and not only must the ducts be carefully routed around the harvester cab, frame and various other machine components, they must also be located such that servicing of the units can be facilitated. Heretofore these and other problems have hindered the development of a picker having more than a four row capacity.